How to start and drive a Model T
posted by loquacious on Jun 30, 2009 - 26 comments

"There's only so many parking spaces in the city," said Sordillo. "And in this part, there's very few." A private parking space in Boston's Back Bay area sold for $300,000.
posted by jaimev on Jun 11, 2009 - 60 comments

Bob Barr and Ralph Nader support the Right to Repair Act of 2009 -- to protect the rights of consumers to diagnose, service, maintain, and repair their motor vehicles. [more inside]
posted by puckish on May 20, 2009 - 271 comments

Do you cheat? Do you have a car? Sorry.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Jan 29, 2009 - 89 comments

Britney Spears loves Japan for its tiny cars. Tiny cars are huge in Japan. But Americans are not very big on very small cars. Nonetheless, automakers may bring tiny microcars to the U.S.. The trick will be making money on smaller cars. Small cars are nothing new, but soon they may be cool.
posted by twoleftfeet on Dec 17, 2008 - 98 comments

"Engineers Rule" and "The Toyota Way": How Toyota and Honda have bested the Big Three.
posted by rollbiz on Nov 25, 2008 - 131 comments

In a time before the Prius, the custom conversion van ruled the roadways. Pushing the boundaries of the airbrush form, testing the limits of mobile interior design, featuring the latest in automatic pink leather bed, compact toaster, 8-track, and love machine technology, the 70s van was celebrated in song and cinema. You started with a factory model, new or used, and ended at a place limited onlyby your creativity, your budget, and your old lady's patience (NSFW). Ford could make you a man.If push came to shove, you could even live in your van. It was fantasy on wheels: van-tastic, man. [more inside]
posted by Miko on Jul 18, 2008 - 43 comments

Interzone interchanges: Can GPS get a driver off of, or keep a driver off of...these things? (via)
posted by Kronos_to_Earth on May 22, 2008 - 19 comments

Feeling nostalgic for cheap gas and and a "poke-through air cleaner that jumps when the engine cries"? The Mustang Mach I was the way to swing in '69! But 9 years later, the Cougar XR-7 was the 1978 choice of Cheryl Tiegs for her midnight driving. Speaking of women, what if your wife has to drive alone? It's a shocking concept, sure, but when a woman's at the wheel, you need Polyglas tires. Yep, crazy things used to happen. Heck, Pontiac even sold this thing for a few years. All that and more at Jalopnik's classic ad watch.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner on May 17, 2008 - 20 comments

RIP Boyd Coddington. American Hot Rod star and wheel maker is doing a big burnout in the sky.
posted by fixedgear on Feb 28, 2008 - 20 comments

The Tata Nano (pic) is a car that costs less new than the amount I've spent on gas during single car trips, recently announced to the auto market in India. The Chery QQ ^, successful , widely exported, and recognized as the Hostage Taker's Vehicle of Choice by China Car Times, is the runner-up for the world's cheapest car but is still approximately twice as expensive. Yes indeed, the price of gas is not going to come back down. So much for my coast-to-coast road trips. [more inside]
posted by XMLicious on Feb 3, 2008 - 42 comments

Disappearing Car Door: Damn, this is cool. Everyone will want one. Until the inevitable car accident which renders it unopenable.
posted by bwg on Nov 27, 2007 - 60 comments

A two-ton 21-mpg 8-passenger V8 Chevy Tahoe? America, meet your 2008 Green Car of the Year!
posted by dead_ on Nov 27, 2007 - 95 comments

Automotive journalist, cartoonist and architect Earl Ma passed away this week after a three year battle with cancer. But you would never have known it from how he lived his life. Last month, he refused to let his partial paralysis keep him away from the Indianapolis 500 (though fellow Hawaiian Jim Nabors was too ill to attend), and with the help of friends covered the race from his wheelchair. His boundless energy, generosity and wide range of talents earned him many friends and admirers, and he is already greatly missed.
posted by Scram on Jun 12, 2007 - 2 comments

All your donuts are belong to us. The US government has mandated that by 2012, all new vehicles must have Electronic Stability Control. ESC senses when a driver may lose control of the vehicle and automatically applies brakes to individual wheels to help stabilize it and avoid a rollover.
posted by jaimev on Apr 26, 2007 - 39 comments

General Motors Heritage Center houses four decades of GM's electric drive vehicles (via Digg)
posted by 445supermag on Mar 13, 2007 - 4 comments

Auto Erotica. Chris, 38, has a recognised psychological condition that makes him physically attracted to motors. (via)
posted by inconsequentialist on Mar 11, 2007 - 72 comments

Imagine you live in Portugal and you're moving into a lovely farm house on a large swath of land. The place has been empty for 15 years! While exploring your new property you find a large barn in the trees. The door is padlocked shut and its all rusted solid. so you grind the padlock open... [more inside]
posted by MegoSteve on Feb 18, 2007 - 70 comments

The dangers of Jiffy Lube in which the average customer pays for services never rendered. (.asx video)
posted by The Jesse Helms on Aug 27, 2006 - 45 comments

HumanCar (note: 6.7mb WMV) row, row, row your car... but it's telling that they show it going downhill, but not up. And will you need 3 friends whenever you need to run to the store? More videos, and information here.
posted by crunchland on Aug 23, 2006 - 12 comments

"Knight Rider, a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist." [audio] These people are cool, they have the cars to prove it. So can you. And then go to the convention. One man's shadowy journey. Could Heat Vision be next?[utube]
posted by bigmusic on Apr 4, 2006 - 35 comments

"Q: Is that another car on top?
 A: Yes, it's a VW bug." -- Carthedral. A few more (clearer, daylight) photos here.
posted by Gator on Feb 19, 2006 - 27 comments

Around the world on 8 litres of fuel? I'd be more excited about this if the automotive industry hadn't been teasing us with cool, feature laden concept cars for years, and then actually producing boring combustion engine sedans.
posted by Fozzie on Jun 29, 2005 - 10 comments

Roadcasting is an idea bandied about for ages: create ad-hoc low power FM networks that let you share the mp3 music you're hearing in your car with those driving around you. It's basically a blueprint for shared pirate radio as you drive, surfing the dial for a variety of music from nearby motorists. They've got screenshots and source code and it looks just like the system imagined in Cory Doctorow's books. I can't wait to see where this project is headed. [via unmediated]
posted by mathowie on May 22, 2005 - 37 comments

"I was lost, proper lost, but thanks to Cris Formage and the fine folks at The Epsilon Program, I've found a better way to live. No more cocaine, no more heroin, no more ceaselss, boundless self pleasure. henceforth, ladies and mental patients, I am following the words of the tract!" - Maccer

Viral marketing nicely done in advance of the new Rockstar games production of Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas (some slightly NSFW words and images)
posted by triv on Aug 27, 2004 - 5 comments

The Old Car Manual Project
posted by anastasiav on Jun 1, 2004 - 5 comments

Plymouth - Dakar Challenge 2005. 3000 mile race from Britain to Senegal, Africa. The Rules: Participant cars must cost $100UK pounds or less. Maximum budget for vehicle preparation: $15UK pounds. No outside assistance during race drivers are on their own. First to finish wins, cars donated to charity.
posted by stbalbach on Apr 13, 2004 - 26 comments

Roadside Memorials on the American Highway
posted by anastasiav on Mar 16, 2004 - 8 comments

Are you now, or have you ever been, a Slug? Slugging -- a kind of spontaneous car-pooling -- is an interesting (but not new!) commuting trend in Metro DC and Northern Virginia.
posted by anastasiav on Dec 16, 2003 - 22 comments

Pssst! Wanna Buy A Reliable, Second-Hand Car? You could do worse than start with Honest John, a plain-speaking, fiercely independent Cockney motor car wonk who'll see you right, no problem. If you're obsessive about reliability, i.e. don't have the time or inclination to look after your wheels and just want the damn thing to get you from A to B and back again, check out the often surprising Reliability Index for the most and least trustworthy automobiles. [Eurocentric warning! Btw, what are the most reliable independent car guides - preferably free and online - in the U.S, Canada, etc?]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Nov 20, 2003 - 32 comments

Project Bio Bus... ROAD TRIP! Smells like a french fry, looks like a school bus.
posted by thunder on May 20, 2003 - 14 comments

GM are looking to the future with plans to get a fuel cell vehicle (dubbed AUTOnomy) on the road by 2010, unlike past attempts where fuel cell powerplants were shoe-horned into conventional cars GM are redesigning it from the ground up with a six inch flat chassis that contains the fuel cell and powertrain allowing them to plonk a variety of different bodies on top all the while cutting costs by being far simpler to produce than conventional cars.
posted by zeoslap on Jul 9, 2002 - 16 comments

When It Won't Run Anymore. I'm a fan of recycling auto parts, but this is a bit over the top -- Even for a Yugo.
posted by salsamander on Dec 15, 2000 - 4 comments

Buddy Christ. Perfect for your dashboard.
posted by plinth on Jun 26, 2000 - 3 comments